This invention relates to materials handling devices, and more particularly, to a process and system for transporting and dispensing catalyst into and out of resid hydrotreaters.
Spiraling oil costs, extensive price fluctuations, and artificial output limitations by the cartel of oil producing countries (OPEC) have created instability and uncertainty for net oil consuming countries, such as the United States, to attain adequate supplies of high quality, low-sulfur, petroleum crude oil (sweet crude) from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and other countries, at reasonable prices for conversion into gasoline, fuel oil, and petrochemical feedstocks. In an effort to stabilize the supply and availability of crude oil at reasonable prices, Amoco Oil Company has developed, constructed and commercialized within the past year extensive, multi-million dollar refinery projects under the Second Crude Replacement Program (CRP II) to process poorer quality, high-sulfur, petroleum crude oil (sour crude) and demetallate, desulfurize, and hydrocrack resid to produce high value products, such as gasoline, distillates, catalytic cracker feed, coke, and petrochemical feedstocks. The Crude Replacement Program is of great benefit to the oil consuming nations by providing for the availability of adequate supplies of gasoline and other petroleum products at reasonable prices while protecting the downstream operations of refining companies.
Amoco Oil Company's Crude Replacement Program advantageously utilizes ebullated expanded bed reactors for its resid hydrotreating units (RHU). In ebullated bed reactors, oil and hydrogen flow upward through a fixed amount of catalyst. The oil flows upwardly through the catalyst bed at a sufficient velocity to expand and maintain the catalyst in a state of random ebullated motion. Ebullated bed reactors were selected over fixed bed reactors because of the ebullated bed reactor's ability to economically process more types of feedstocks as well as their ability to readily adapt to changes in the feedstock's composition. Ebullated bed reactors desirably accommodate the addition and the withdrawal of catalyst onstream during regular use and operation without shutting the unit and they also minimize bed plugging.
The successful commercialization and use of ebullated bed reactors requires voluminous amounts of catalyst to be transported to and removed from the ebullated reactors daily. It also requires that used spent catalyst be deoiled before being shipped to a reclamation site or disposal area to protect the environment by preventing oil from dripping, spilling, and accumulating on the nation's highways as well as to maximize product yield. In order to safeguard and protect the reactors and associated refinery equipment, it is desirable to restrict trucks from driving anywhere close to the reactors and associated equipment. All of the above requirements create an enormous materials handling problem.
Over the years, a variety of receptacles, drums, containers, bins, cans, boxes, dispensers, and associated equipment, have been suggested for transporting, storing, and dispensing bulk materials, such as dry solids or liquids. These receptacles usually have one or more significant customized features to accommodate the specific material stored in the receptacle and/or to accommodate handling by special types of materials handling equipment. Typifying these prior art receptacles and associated equipment are those found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,285,074, 2,035,838, 2,161,988, 2,228,435, 2,293,160, 2,614,817, 2,681,746, 2,862,645, 2,929,658, 3,083,879, 3,111,242, 3,138,297, 3,162,330, 3,182,750, 3,198,395, 3,220,612, 3,224,653, 3,231,141, 3,318,486, 3,347,971, 3,407,971, 3,602,400, 3,785,534, 3,899,095, 4,027,787, 4,032,048, 4,28l,729, and 4,474,507. These receptacles and associated equipment have met with varying degrees of success.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a process and system for transporting catalyst to and from a reactor which overcomes many of the above problems.